Men's Bible Study 8/30/2010

This week we looked at James 1:26-27. James here gives what looks like the authoritative definition of religion. Religion itself is viewed in so many different ways. In America, many people think as religion as something for "nutty people". Others make up their own religions or follow no religion except for what they feel is right. In South Korea, religion doesn't carry such negative connotations, but it is often treated unthinkingly. You are respected and considered educated if you adhere to a religion, but it is often reduced to little more than a demographic flagpole.

So what does James have to say about "religion"? A couple things to remember: Firstly, it'd be a mistake to just take the few pointers here as a mere checklist. Secondly, there may be more to the terms James uses here than is apparent. "Keeping a tight rein on your tongue" is often (and not wrongly) taken to mean watching what you say in every situation, not using foul language, etc. After all, Proverbs says "Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips." (4:24)

It was pointed out, though, that James may be speaking about a more specific problem. In Deuteronomy, the people were of Israel were instructed to "Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name." (6:13) By Jesus' time however, this practice of "taking oaths in his name" had been corrupted to the point where swearing by God carried little to no actual weight at all. Jesus even taught "Simply let your yes be yes, and your no be no; anything beyond this comes from the evil one." (Matt 5:37) A perfectly good command by God, meant to encourage people to keep their promises, had been twisted into a daily throwaway mockery of his name. James may actually be referring to this lack of fear of God when he talks about the man who "does not keep a tight rein on his tongue." A man claims he is religious, but disrespects God every single time he makes a promise he has no intention of keeping, thinking that by doing so he is keeping God's Deuteronomical command. Such a man, as James puts it, "deceives himself".

James discredits the "religion" of those who try to appear religious, but do not seek to honor God in their hearts or their words. But what does James say is "pure and faultless" religion? His words are surprisingly and refreshingly succinct: "to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." One might expect a longer diatribe on something so important as pure and faultless religion. It's almost as though James is keeping a tight rein on his own tongue! James however is only repeating the same thing God has repeatedly said throughout the bible.

"Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan." Exodus 22:22
"He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing." Deuteronomy 10:18
"Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." Isaiah 1:17
"Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other." Zechariah 7:10
"They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely." Mark 12:40

There are many, many similar verses, and they often come alongside other verses referring to the "poor and needy"... basically anyone in a defenseless position. Right after that, James says to keep yourself "unstained" by the world. We didn't get to talk about this latter part of the verse, but James of course isn't prescribing that we separate ourselves from everyone, for as Paul puts it "In that case you would have to leave this world". Rather it is more like Paul's counsel to "not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." (Rom 12:2)

Back to "orphans and widows." It was pointed out tonight that James was speaking to a people who lived in an era saturated with religion. Greek gods and temples were everywhere, serving out little helpings of divine favor like ancient Hellenic drive-thrus. The religion of Israel itself had become diluted by surrounding cultural influences. By returning to an oft-repeated exhortation from the old testament, James may simply be reminding the followers of Jesus who their God is and what he wants. If your religion is "pure and faultless", then you know who God is and follow his commands. There is no need (and no place) for a lot of pious oaths or religious posturing, and no need to sample this god one week, and try another the next. Just be there for the helpless! And keep yourself pure! If God has repeated something until his prophets' faces turned blue, it probably has something to do with true religion.

It's helpful to remember we live in a time and place where there's plenty of religious variety. One person shared that he doesn't think there really is such a thing as a true atheist or an agnostic. Everyone believes that there is something out there greater than themselves, even if they don't think they've personally encountered it or disagree with "religious" definitions of what that ultimate great thing is. So in a sense, we have always lived in times saturated with religion. If we aren't worshiping according to some formalized system of thought, then we are worshiping something informally. Either way, we are all drawn to worship something greater, because God has "set eternity in the hearts of men" (Ecc 3:11). James helps us cut through the clutter by reminding his readers of God's character and his concerns, basically saying the things God cares about is what we need to remember and act on when we think about religion.

Next week: James condenses more tough issues and inflammatory topics into one or two sentences! We get to chew on it. Jaws will ache. Bring water. It's gonna be great!

Tomorrow: The 8-Letter Word

Tomorrow's looking warm and sunny, and we still have adequate daylight til just after 8pm if i'm not mistaken, so unless the Lord sends surprise rain, we'll be meeting at Bidwell Park (there's a google map link on the right) tomorrow at 7:30pm.

We're still in James 1, with a couple more verses to squeak through, so take some time to think about this:

"If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

"Religion"? That's a dirty word these days, even in church!



But what does James mean by "religion", and how is he using it here? What do you think about the definition of "pure and faultless" religion James gives? How do you think James' audience thought about religion and how do you think they responded to James? How does what James say match up with how we think about religion today?

Think about it, pray about it, then come and let's see what the Spirit has revealed to everyone.

Men's Bible Study 8/23/2010

James 1: 19-25

I hope there was no confusion about where we were meeting yesterday.
If there was, sorry, my bad! I should've sent out an email earlier in
the day. I'll try to keep track of the weather and SMS people if it
looks like we need to switch to a warmer, drier meeting place. Please
send me your phone number if you'd like me to SMS you (If I already
have your number then you don't need to). It does seem like we are
losing warm weather and daylight already, so there's a good chance we
are meeting at Spot next week again. Please keep that in mind if you
arrive at Bidwell Park and don't see us there. But I will try to send
out an update before next Monday about where we are meeting.

This week we talked about being "quick to listen, slow to speak and
slow to become angry". Why does James connect the three? We might
think this is speaking mainly about how we communicate with other
people (and it's certainly great advice), but James says right after,
"Therefore... humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save
you", suggesting that there may be an aspect of this speaking about
how we relate to the God and His word. Ever got angry reading the
bible? Do we arrive at conclusions to soon about what God is telling
us? Do we respond to something minor and are done listening before we
get to the major thing God is talking about?

Then James follows this up by talking about not just listening to the
word, but doing it. "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do
what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and,
after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he
looks like." We talked about how doing what God says actually helps
us to hear Him better, and how action and words really do go a long
way towards communicating effectively.

James believes this point is worth repeating in different ways. From
this point on he will repeatedly come back to contrasting theory and
action. "You have faith; I have deeds." "Who is wise and understanding
among you? Let him show it by his good life". This is where it all
starts. Martin Luther famously had a tough time with this stuff and
stuck James's letter at the end of his bible (impressive considering
there was no MS Word copypaste back then).

Will we wind up doing the same? Is this the start of a new Antinomian
movement? Will Pastor Steve have to step in and sort us out? Will
Cory wear his shirt the right side out? Come and see!

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